What happens to a TikTok account when someone dies

“If your account on the Platform is deactivated or terminated before you use your Virtual Items (including any available Coins), you will not be entitled to a refund or any additional access to, or value from, such Virtual Items, unless required by applicable law, so we encourage you to use your Virtual Items (where possible) before you cease to have access to your account.”¹

A memorialized account shows Remembering next to the person's name, stays visible and searchable with its content and comments, and is not recommended to others or shown in the For You feed.^{2, 3}

No new content, Duets, Stitches or direct messages can be added, and the profile and username cannot be edited unless a legacy contact has that permission. Without a request, TikTok may memorialize an account when the death is confirmed through credible sources.³

No one can log in to a memorialized account, even with the password, and a legacy contact cannot log in either.^{2, 3}

Direct messages to a memorialized account stop and its message history is not accessible. A legacy contact can download the holder's posts only where the holder granted the data download permission.³

The memorialization or deletion process typically begins with a request from a family member or legal guardian; TikTok's Memorialization article names immediate family members and legal representatives as the people who can request it.^{3, 2}

The Virtual Items Policy grants a limited license to use virtual items for personal use on the platform, and gives the account holder no right or title in them except as the policy states.¹

Coins bought directly from TikTok are not returnable or refundable, and Gifts are not returnable or refundable in any circumstances.¹

If the estimated Creator Rewards owed at termination exceed the $50.00 minimum payment threshold, TikTok pays the undisputed amounts within a reasonable time after termination. A creator terminated for cause forfeits unpaid rewards.⁴

Creator Rewards are paid on the 15th of each month when the payable amount meets $50.00; unpaid rewards below the threshold may be deemed expired at TikTok's discretion, and a payment dispute not raised within 30 days is waived.⁴

The Terms grant TikTok a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide license to the holder's content, and the ownership and license section survives deletion of the account.⁵

An account not used to access TikTok for 180 days or more is inactive, and its username may be reset to a randomized numeric username; the Terms also let TikTok revoke, reclaim or reassign the username.^{6, 5}

Requesting memorialization or deletion of a deceased user's account, under the Topic Account access / security.^{7, 3}

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